The present invention relates to a dry mix useful in preparing baked goods. Such dry mixes are commonly sold commercially to consumers and such consumers add certain additional ingredients, such as water, eggs or the like, to make a batter. The batter may then be baked to produce the final baked goods. Such baked goods commonly include brownies, cakes or similar products.
Dry mixes for baked goods generally include sugar, flour, shortening and a variety of other constituents which depend upon the final desired baked good. For instance, if the dry mix is intended for use in preparing brownies, it may additionally include ingredients such as cocoa, salt, and vanilla. Current commercial processes for producing a suitable dry mix are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,878 (Ganske), the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Generally speaking, all of the "dry" ingredients, i.e., all of the ingredients except the shortening, are charged into a mixing apparatus and mixed together. The shortening is then added and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. As explained in Ganske's '878 patent, this desirably may be accomplished by fluidizing the dry ingredients by entraining the dry, powdered substances in air. When the dry ingredients have been fluidized, shortening may be added to this mixture as a fluid by spraying through a nozzle. This atomized shortening then mixes with the rest of the ingredients to form the final dry mix.
Dry mixes manufactured according to commercially establish processes, though, often contain lumps, or "pills", of aggregated flour and shortening. In order to remove these pills, commercially produced dry mixes are commonly subjected to a further "finishing" stage of processing prior to packaging for commercial sale. In this finishing process, the mixed ingredients are passed through a device, appropriately referred to as a "finisher", which is designed to grind the product and break up the pills. Nonetheless, in current commercial processes pills continue to pass through the finisher and end up in the final products sold to consumers. These pills tend to be rather noticeable in the finished baked good made by the consumer, often appearing as lumps of uncooked flour within the product or as loose flour on top of the product.
Additionally, current mixing processes for producing brownie dry mix currently yield only a relatively small amount of "flake" on top of the final, baked brownies. The term "flake" as used herein refers to a thin, flaky skin which forms on the upper surface of baked brownies. A high degree of flake is generally considered to be desirable in brownies because it provides the brownies with an attractive appearance commonly associated with high quality brownies.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a finishing process which can more effectively reduce pills present in commercially manufactured dry mixes. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide an improved process for manufacturing a brownie dry mix which would enhance flaking in the final, baked brownie product.